


You're Sick, I'll Humor You

by LoveThemFiercely



Series: Drabbles and Prompts [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And Is A Huge Baby When He's Sick, And Plays Video Games, Ben Likes The Princess Bride, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hair Braiding, Playstation, Rey Humors Him, Reylo - Freeform, Sickfic, Silly, Tea, Tomb Raider, Tumblr Prompt, because reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 10:12:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17384552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveThemFiercely/pseuds/LoveThemFiercely
Summary: Just a short, silly, sickfic from @glitzescape's Tumblr idea.  It wedged itself into my brain while I was supposed to be writing something else, so here it is.





	You're Sick, I'll Humor You

**Author's Note:**

> So the idea was that Ben would be a huge baby when he has a cold. Injuries, wounds, can be dramatically, stoically, heroically resisted. But a cold? That's just messy and awful and gross, there's no channeling that. It could be potentially infuriating, the helplessness; until you realize why.

“…Ben?” **  
**

He lifted his eyelids with supreme effort, cracked lips attempting a smile.  “Hi.”

He was on the receiving end of pursed lips and a skeptical eyebrow, as Rey surveyed the wreckage of their den.  Ben knew what she’d see.  There were used tissues everywhere.  They were sort of in neat piles at first; and then there were just so many, and he couldn’t stop coughing and sneezing, and they just fell wherever they landed.  There was a jar of Vick’s on the table, not that it had helped much, and the remains of an Irish coffee he’d still had the strength to make earlier, hoping it would stave off the onslaught.  No such luck.  

The whole was punctuated by books he hadn’t had the concentration to read, blankets he’d tried and rejected until he found the one with the perfect softness and weight, and the Playstation controller he’d tossed aside when he realized Lara Croft went charging right off a cliff every time his eyes watered or he tried to wipe his nose.  

“Ben, you called me.  From the other side of the house.  On the phone.  Did you need something?”  Rey was trying hard to keep the impatience out of her voice.  It wasn’t working.  He guessed she had been busy with…things, while he was lying here.  But seriously, this had to be the worst cold of all time.  Death might be preferable.

He nodded, which felt awful.  He made a note never to move his head again; because obviously this cold was never going to end.  “Can you hand me the remote?”  

…

Rey’s first impulse was to yell.  For pity’s sake, the remote was literally two feet away.  His arms were longer than that.  And she’d been doing chores all day, for both of them.  It wasn’t like they were going to be destitute if the farm work fell behind; they both worked online from home, the farm was just a hobby, really.  But the animals still needed care, whether they were income generators or not.  

Once she got a closer look at him, though, she couldn’t stay angry.  It should have been impossible for someone as tall and broad as Ben was to look this small.  He was somehow managing to pull off frail, which was completely ridiculous…and sort of adorable.  

And…she remembered what he’d said about growing up in the Solo house. They hadn’t wanted for much, except each other.  His parents were always off on business trips, and he’d been raised by a succession of impersonal nannies and housekeepers until he was old enough to go about the business of raising himself.  

It was very different than her own beginnings, which had involved dumpster diving and sleeping rough; but there was something at its core that felt the same. Rey knew what it was that Ben really wanted; the same thing she would have, had their positions been reversed.  He wanted the feeling of someone caring for him…someone who loved him.  Well, that was not going to be a problem.  He would always have that.

“Okay.”  She picked up the remote and handed it to him.  His smile was equal parts gratitude and relief, as though he’d thought she might refuse.  

Rey couldn’t let him get entirely away with this. She pushed and shoved his giant self around until there was a sliver of room for her to join him on the couch.   “You know,” she teased, “I seem to remember a rather large, brave, determined sort of fellow who once walked quite a distance on a broken ankle to rescue the lost lamb he’d finally found and bring her back home.  Do you know where I can find him?”  She conducted an exaggerated search around the room, as though that Ben might be hiding behind the coffee table.

He gingerly shook his head, a move Ben seemed to immediately regret.  “Doesn’t ring a bell.  But then I’m pretty sure my brain’s been replaced with hot cement.  If you find him, can you tell him my wife could probably use some help with the farm chores?”  That was delivered with an apologetic expression and a half-smile; and yeah, adorable was definitely the word of the day.

“I’ll be sure to do that, but I think she’s finished.”  She sighed.  “Okay, I give.  Stay right where you are.  But make some room for me, okay?”  He looked disappointed when she left the couch.

“Where would I go?” A pitiful wave of his hand indicated the medicine cabinet apocalypse that surrounded him.  Oh, brother.  Right.  Remember what was really behind this.  

When she came back, it was with two steaming cups of tea, a trash bag, and a stack of DVDs.  “All right.”  She handed him one of the cups.  “Start on that; but before you drink it, just hold it under your nose and breathe in the steam.  Trust me.  Now shove over.”  Trash deposited in the bag, Rey muscled him out of the way until she could sit behind him with her legs on either side.  

His long hair, normally one of his best features (okay, one of many), was in knots and straggling into his eyes.  Rey hummed to herself as she started braiding it back into something more manageable.  “What shall we watch?”  She’d brought a selection, but she knew what Ben would pick.  She’d already loaded it in the machine, she was so sure.  “I’ve got soup on the stove for later, and maybe hot chocolate for dessert.”

Ben didn’t even look at the stack.  His eyes were closed, hands cupped around the mug, face now blissful as he breathed in the fragrant plumes of steam.  She could feel him shiver as her hands wove through his hair.  “Can we watch The Princess Bride?”  Yep, that was the one.  It was his favorite.  He loved the swordfights and the banter and the fantasy of it all.  He surprised her, though.  “I like the way the grandfather comes just to read to his grandson when he’s sick.  And the farmboy ends up with the most beautiful girl in the world.”  Rey’s heart caught in her throat.  

Finished braiding back his hair, she wrapped her legs around his middle and drew him back to rest his head on her shoulder. It wouldn’t be long before they’d have to move, he was heavy.  But for right now, she could feel all of his muscles relax with a sigh.  “As you wish,” she said, and started up the movie.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm tempted to write a version of this in canonverse, just for fun. We'll see.


End file.
